


Hostage Situation

by LadyTabatha



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bernadetta von Varley's Father's Bad Parenting, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26897644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTabatha/pseuds/LadyTabatha
Summary: After defeating Count Varley, the Blue Lions search his castle. All is as it should be, with the sole exception of a girl tied up in a dark room...An AU where Bernadetta never attended the Officer's Academy.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Bernadetta von Varley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	Hostage Situation

**Author's Note:**

> A quick note on this AU: Bernadetta's mother tried to smuggle her to the Officer's Academy, but was caught by Count Varley. Enraged by this betrayal, he arranges an "accident" for his wife. With her no longer there to rein him in, he becomes even more extreme in his treatment of Bernadetta.
> 
> With that established, let's get to the story!

Felix sheathed his sword and strode into Castle Varley, one hand still on the hilt in case of trouble. Sylvain and Ingrid were beside him, and all three of them were on high alert. As they progressed through the castle, they found only frightened servants. Until they came to The Door.

The Door deserved its capital letters. It was sturdy, made of oak and reinforced with iron. It had three different locks. It sat directly on the ground, with no room for light or air to creep underneath. Even the hinges looked intimidating.

It was, in short, a door that was not to be trifled with.

Ashe made quick work of two of the locks, but was confounded by the third. For a moment it seemed that The Door would stay forever shut, but soon a key was found on the late Count Varley’s body. The Count hadn’t wanted anyone else to be able to access whatever was inside. They speculated, as they waited, on what the room could possibly contain. The general consensus was that it was full of gold and other precious items.

And so it was to the astonishment of all, when The Door finally swung open and a torch was lit, that the room was nearly empty. There was only a girl, blindfolded and tied to a chair. She flinched when she heard Sylvain’s footsteps as he walked inside.

“I’m _sorry_!” she cried. “I’m so sorry, Father, I’ll never do it again, I’ll behave, I’ll be obedient, I promise I won’t be a disgrace to the Varley name, I’ll marry the Vestra heir or the Hevring heir or the Bergliez heir or whoever you want me to marry, I’ll be a good obedient wife, please don’t kill me, please, _please_ …” Her begging trailed off into broken sobs, and tears trickled out from under the blindfold.

Sylvain froze, horror etched into his features. Felix shoved him aside. “Don’t just stand there, you idiot, do something.” He pulled a dagger from his boot and got to work, sawing away at the ropes that held the girl- Count Varley’s daughter?- to her chair. 

It was difficult, though, because she had started to squirm the instant she heard unfamiliar voices. It wasn’t quite thrashing, but only because she didn’t have enough freedom of movement for that.

“Would you _hold still_?” he snapped. “I’m trying to cut you free, but if you keep this up I’ll end up accidentally cutting _you_.”

The movements stopped as quickly as they had begun.

“There,” he said as he sliced through the last bit of rope. “You’re out of the ropes now. Do you want to take off the blindfold, or should I do it?”

She was silent, frozen in place. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks, dropping into her lap. Her hands were still held behind her, despite the fact that they had been freed.  
“Okay,” he grumbled, “I guess I’ll do it, then.” He untied the cloth and pulled it away.

The girl blinked rapidly, eyes adjusting to the dim light of the torch.

That was when Mercedes swept into the room. “Everybody out, okay? I need to examine her.” Her tone was crisp and businesslike.

“In _here_?” Felix scoffed. “There’s no windows. There’s no place to put a torch. You can’t examine her while holding one, so this isn’t going to work. Besides, look at her. She’s clearly terrified of this place, so get her out of here!”

“Oh?” Mercedes said coyly. “Is Felix actually showing some kind of emotional awareness?”

“Shut up, Mercedes. You didn’t see her, didn’t _hear_ what she said when Sylvain walked in. Count Varley-” the girl flinched at the name- “was clearly some kind of monster.”

“He’s right,” Ashe chimed in. “It would be cruel to keep her in here any longer.”

“Okay.” Mercedes took her by the hand, leading her gently out of the room. “Come on, then. We’ll get you cleaned up in no time.”

\---------

“Well,” Ingrid said. “What are we going to do now?”

“About Bernadetta?” Sylvain guessed. Mercedes had managed to coax a name out of the frightened girl after a few minutes.

“Exactly. She’s not an enemy soldier, clearly, but she is Empire nobility. Countess Varley in her own right, now. She obviously needs help, but can we afford to give it to her?”

“We have to station someone at Varley anyway, to secure our hold on it. I guess she could be a hostage of sorts, and we can keep her here until the war is over. We’ll still have to figure out what to do with her then, but we’ll have more time.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Ingrid sighed. “But who’s going to stay here with her?”

\----------

“You want me to do _what_?” Felix demanded.

“Stay here at Varley, Felix. We need to leave a commander here with a few battalions, in case the enemy tries a counterattack.” Byleth patiently explained.

“But why _me_?”

“You injured your leg while fighting Count Varley- don’t try to deny it, I saw- and you won’t be able to keep up the pace when we’re marching.”

“That’s an excuse and you know it. I was healed within minutes and there are horses that I can ride.”

“White magic isn’t perfect and we need the horses to carry supplies. You’re staying here.”

“So you’re leaving me behind because I’m useless.”

“No, I’m leaving you behind because you’ll be more useful here than with us. We need a strong warrior to protect the castle.”

“Fine.”

“Also, you’ll be in charge of taking care of Bernadetta.”

“ _What_? Professor, I’m a soldier, not some kind of nanny! What do you expect me to do? Professor, get back here!”

\--‐---------

They communicated largely through letters, despite living in the same building. Bernadetta had been told that she was free to roam the Varley castle; however, she never left her room. 

The letters started one afternoon, when Felix dropped off a plate of food outside her door with a note, knocked, and then left. The note read, “Here. Eat. It’s not poisoned.” He returned that evening with dinner, and found an empty plate and a paper with the scribbled message, “thank you.”

They continued like this for a while. He brought food three times a day, and they exchanged letters each time, until one morning in particular. He arrived with breakfast, and not only was there no note, but there were whimpers coming from inside the room.

He knocked on the door, and the whimpers stopped, but nothing else happened. He knocked again. No response. He tried the door, and it (surprisingly) wasn’t locked.

“Hello?” He called as he entered the room, looking around. “Bernadetta?”

The answer came in a whisper from underneath the bed. “Shhh! Don’t! He’ll find me!”

“Who’ll find you?”

“My father! He’s coming, I just know it.”

Felix scoffed. “No, he’s not.”

“How do you _know_?”

“Because I killed him.”

“And- and you’re sure he’s dead?”

“Even if he survived the Thoron, which I doubt, I’ve never heard of anyone living after their head was cut off.”

“I- thank you. Will you- will you stay here for a little while? Just to remind me that you’re real, and that means that he’s gone?”

Felix shrugged and sat down on the floor. “Sure. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.”

Slowly, Bernadetta crawled out from her hiding place. She looked terrible: covered in dust, shaking, with deep shadows under her eyes. Likely she hadn’t slept at all, due to nightmares.

If someone were to ask Felix how this led to Bernadetta sleeping with her head in his lap, he would have no answer for them.

And he _certainly_ wasn’t stroking her hair.

**Author's Note:**

> This is complete for now, but I might do more with this AU someday. Who knows?


End file.
